James Alexander Michie: Canada is left behind | CBC News

Canada has lagged behind and loses competitive advantage, therefore, now must put in place a plan to solve this problem so that it is up to date with the economy of various nations, but especially with the economy of the United States which is has seen steady growth which is considered to be due to the uncertainty founded by the president of that nation, Donald Trump, regarding the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement in addition to the fiscal plan that likewise reduces the tax rate corporate maximum from 35% to 20% in this 2018.

For different and distinguished personalities such as David Dodge, Canada undoubtedly has a competitiveness problem. It should be noted that the United States had an investment last year in Canada of almost half of the $ 40.6 billion that was recorded four years ago according to a report made by Canadian manufacturers and exporters, while Canadian investment was triplicate south of the border.

On the other hand, Finance Minister Bill Morneau has made clear that he does not want to react very quickly to the actions Trump has taken, for that reason he does not plan to match or at least not even the tax rate, despite this he plans to face the issue of competitiveness in its fiscal update in the autumn.

It is worrisome that Canadian productivity compared to that of the United States has decreased significantly and is that the level of investment in Canada has not been the best for the economy to evolve and improve as expected. Coupled with this, it is a challenge for investors in Canada to move goods and services across the nation since they have become very large and expensive, as well as the processes created in Canada that undoubtedly make it unattractive to move their capital in that country.

Similarly, the problems facing Canada in terms of competitiveness are not only a matter for the federal government, it is also a matter for the provinces, municipalities and individual citizens, meaning that a solution must be found in conjunction with the aforementioned, since they are responsible for making this process more complicated, thereby damaging productivity.